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Meet my new baby. Chinese Hi-Fin Shark "Myxocyprinus asiaticus".

He is a Chinese Hi-Fin Shark "Myxocyprinus asiaticus" which is a large member of the Catostomidae family. We got him to grow him out over the winter for our pond this spring.

The pics are a little fuzzy because he was all excited and darting around vigorously eating daphnia. These guys are especially cute when juveniles, and aren't as popular as they once were so many people aren't familiar with them.

They are believed to make extensive migratory breeding runs which have been threatened in their native waters of the Yangtze and Minjiang River Basins due to the over building of dams. This, combined with the fact that they were once so popular in the hobby that the numbers of the species in the wild began to decline led to them being placed on an endangered species list in China, making it illegal to export wild specimens.

However in recent years there has been many attempts to cultivate a domestic line, and while so far they have all been unsuccessful the species is still available due to invasive populations of them that have fared extremely well in wild ponds and lakes in parts of the states.

They will only do well in colder water setups (62*F-70*F) and can successfully winter under ice in waters which are sufficiently deep. They are long lived and particularly slow growing, so it may take them up to 10-15 years to reach max adult size of 3ft. This large size combined with their requirements of non-tropical temperatures and exceptionally strong current and filtration make most hobby aquariums completely incompatible setups. However they are well suited as companions for goldfish or koi ponds as long as the water quality is maintained pristine enough to accommodate them, as they can be particularly delicate fish.

Anyway, just thought some of you might be interested, and we are very excited to add him(her?) to the family.

"A grain of sand is all I ever wanted to be. Lay me down and let the water wash over me, wash over me." -Mickey Newbury
~-~-~ }~)){'> <}MocE{> }~)){'> ~-~-~
Prove that size doesn't matter www.bigfishcampaign.org
Painted fish belong on canvas, not in aquaria www.deathbydyeing.org

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. -Vince Lombardi
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See my profile for my tanks and what fish I keep

I have seen these for sale and have always admired them.The Toledo zoo had a aquarium with seven of them in with a school of twenty large clown loaches and a large fire eel.They were kept in this aquarium for ten years to date at 80 degrees with no ill effects on the fish.Currently the aquarium is closed for expansion,so the fish ar4e in a off site holding facility.

Mad:
He is going into a koi/shubie pond we are currently building. We didn't get it done before fall got here and I didn't want it to turn into a muddy mess over winter, so I put a hold on construction till spring.

Skull:
80 is the max their native waters get to in summer. It is common practice for professional aquariums to simulate the seasons the fish would go through, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they alternate between warm and cold throughout the year. A big school of them like that would be beautiful I bet.

"A grain of sand is all I ever wanted to be. Lay me down and let the water wash over me, wash over me." -Mickey Newbury
~-~-~ }~)){'> <}MocE{> }~)){'> ~-~-~
Prove that size doesn't matter www.bigfishcampaign.org
Painted fish belong on canvas, not in aquaria www.deathbydyeing.org

Lol I promise I will. They do get progressively funny looking. they are cute small tho.

"A grain of sand is all I ever wanted to be. Lay me down and let the water wash over me, wash over me." -Mickey Newbury
~-~-~ }~)){'> <}MocE{> }~)){'> ~-~-~
Prove that size doesn't matter www.bigfishcampaign.org
Painted fish belong on canvas, not in aquaria www.deathbydyeing.org